Starring Eduard Franz, Valerie French, Grant Richards, Henry Daniell, Lumsden Hare
Directed by Edward L. Cahn
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A university professor fears a family curse has finally caught up with him and his brother, a curse that left their ancestors with headless corpses.
A low budget but very efficient horror film, with producer Robert E. Kent and director Edward L. Cahn reuniting after collaborating on It! The Terror From Beyond Space, Invisible Invaders, and other genre fare, the picture still stands up well with plenty of unsettling material. A very creepy atmosphere is maintained throughout, aided by Paul Dunlap's music score, which although it borrows liberally from his past work, features some key eerie organ notes at appropriate times. Daniell, a familiar face from mysteries of the 1940s, makes a great 1950s villain, scoffing at his adversaries and forgoing any effort to be charming to his guests, delivering a flat "What a pleasure," when they arrive. We never see any really big shocks on camera, but tight editing by the filmmakers, and progressively staged revelations in the screenplay add chills at the right moments.
Showing posts with label Valerie French. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Valerie French. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Monday, January 19, 2015
The 27th Day (1957)
Starring Gene Barry, Valerie French, George Voskovec, Arnold Moss, Stefan Schnabel
Directed by William Asher
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
An alien being gives a doomsday weapon to each of five representatives from the Earth, giving them the option of using or not using it within a 27 day period.
Heavy-handed at times, and perhaps unfair in its casting of the Soviet Union's leaders as villains, although their nation is never specifically named, this picture still offers an interesting morality tale quite relevant at the time- if you were given a weapon that dangerous could you trust turning it over to your government for safe-keeping? The resolution the film comes to is a bit too much of an easy answer, but it's still an entertaining movie, with a fine roster of quality actors in the cast.
Directed by William Asher
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
An alien being gives a doomsday weapon to each of five representatives from the Earth, giving them the option of using or not using it within a 27 day period.
Heavy-handed at times, and perhaps unfair in its casting of the Soviet Union's leaders as villains, although their nation is never specifically named, this picture still offers an interesting morality tale quite relevant at the time- if you were given a weapon that dangerous could you trust turning it over to your government for safe-keeping? The resolution the film comes to is a bit too much of an easy answer, but it's still an entertaining movie, with a fine roster of quality actors in the cast.
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